tv News Al Jazeera May 6, 2015 3:00pm-3:31pm EDT
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>> 40 civilians are killed in yemen while trying to escape the fighting in aden by boat. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program three hours and eight seats to go. benjamin netanyahu's race against time to form israel's next government. four men are sentenced to death over the mob killing of a woman which sparked protests across
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afghanistan. and mission accomplished, why this capsule launched a significant step for space exploration. more than 120 people most of them civilians are reported to have been killed in heavy fighting across yemen. 40 civilians died in aden after shells fired by houthi rebels at a fishing boat that civilians were using to flee the southern port city. they were among thousands trying to escape heavy fighting with the houthis have retaken their neighborhood. saudi has responded with airstrikes after houthi fighters fired mortar and rockets at a saudi arabia town. the united nations is concerned about the worsening humanitarian condition.
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secretary of state john kerry is in riyadh where he will discuss the saudi-led coalition. people have been trapped between the war and the sea seizing the southwestern district has given the houthis control of the presidential palace which overlooks the port and as an operation center. we have more now on the fighting itself. >> these people are fleeing for their lives. many are trying to leech the port. >> this is nothing short of
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genocide against its citizens of aden, who never violated law or to cleanse the residents of the city and destroy all. the rebels and forces loyal to ousted saleh are responsible for the attacks. >> they've been under fire for two weeks. the houthi latest attacks seem to be concentrated not far from aden's port. this area is important for control over the coast. but forces loyal to abd rabbuh mansur hadi are putting up a fight. in the north of aden there is also fierce battle in the city of taiz, yemen's most populated province.
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fighting has destroyed many parts of the city. and those defending the city accuse the houthis of carry out random shelling. today's province many unite to provide help to forces. it could turn the tied to the haughties. to the sky the saudi-led coalition carried out 30 strikes hitting houthi targets. those strikes appear to be in retaliation for the houthi attack on tuesday on the southy border town. three people were killed there by mortar shells and rockets. this is the first time that the houthis hit an area inside the kingdom since the beginning of the saudi-led campaign a month ago. >> mohammed, we know that the
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u.s. secretary of state has arrived in saudi arabia, and he's due to join talks with the saudi leadership right now. we understand that he's going to ask for a humanitarian pause to the fighting. do you know if they would likely be thinking along the same lines? >> the saudis will be listening to secretary of state john kerry, as he proposes the humanitarian truce but it's not expected that they would fully accept an open cease-fire. if you look at the latest development, as they were just speaking about the latest developments have been very alarming to the saudis. the fact this they fired inside the the board means that the
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saudis will not accept a cease-fire. we're talking here about 1800 kilometers of border there. so i mean, maybe the saudis will accept cease-fire in some areas some specific areas inside yemen far from the border, and for humanitarian purposes only. they've already been talking about that for a few days now. they suggested that they would work with their allies, and also with western powers for the creation of safe zones inside yemen for the distribution of humanitarian relief. but the houthis and the loyalists of former president ali abdullah saleh have not responded to that. it must be accepted by both sides, and the saudis are concerned that any type of safe zone or distribution zone is created, a and the houthis will take advantage that have and attack the envoys so this is a very difficult issue.
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there have to be troops on the ground to protect those distribution points and discussion will be about this subject between secretary kerry and the saudis. most of those talks will fake place,--will take place and we'll wait to see what type of agreement they come up with. >> just as the saudis must be worried about the developments. talk us through the scenes as you're following all the military developments over the past weeks. talk us through why the last fighting that we've seen is so worrying for the saudis? >> it's worrying because for six weeks now the saudis have been striking against houthi targets in yemen and they haven't expected this campaign to take so long. they were expecting just a week or two before they could destroy all the capabilities, military capabilities the defense and
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attack capabilities of the houthis. but that has not happened. it's clear that the haughties are making gains on the ground. they're progressing there and taking new territory inside aden itself we have seen that they have taken one of the most populous districts inside aden, or it is where the port of aden is located and they've been able to strike inside saudi arabia, something that the saudis have not been expecting. they were talking about something that is a problem of yemen, returning to the government there legitimate government now they have called for a truce because the humanitarian disaster that the war is causing. it is sorry worrisome for the saudis. >> mohammed, thank you. let's go to afghanistan where a
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judge has sentenced four men to death for the murders of a woman who was lynched and beaten to death in broad daylight. the woman was attacked after being wrongly accused of burning the qur'an. but concerns have been raised about the speed with which the verdicts were reached. caroline malone reports. >> the murder trial has been closely watched in afghanistan. the trial was broadcast live on national television. 49 people including 19 policemen were accused. four am of them were given the harshest punishments. >> we have sentenced each of you to capital punishment, death our decision on these four people are not definite. they have the right to appeal. >> the 27-year-old was a wrongly accused of burning a qur'an. she was brutally attacked by a mob in march. they beat and kicked her and then set her body on fire. hundreds of people watched. some people even recorded it on
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their phones. that evidence was used in the case. her family were in court. her brother has told al jazeera that justice has not been served served. human rights activists agree that not everyone was brought to trial. the real criminals are still free and i don't believe that it was a fair and free trial. announcing the death penalty or imprisoning or letting free most of these people was a hasty decision. >> but the trial has successfully convicted some people involved in mob justice against women in afghanistan. >> it has had a big influence on its public perception. that this case was taken very much seriously. we had lots of cases where women were publicly stoned and killed, and people would just watch and nobody was brought to justice. >> a sign was put up in central kabul where the attack happened, and a shrine has been built on the river bank where she was
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burned. afghan women carried her coffin at the funeral breaking with tradition. many across afghanistan and across the world are calling for justice. many are angry not only for the crime, but that it happened in public with police present. 19 policemen are on trial. they say that they called for back up but none came. their sentence something due in june. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> a formal lie withdrew his support. husband decision by the former minister lieberman has left benjamin netanyahu short of a majority. he has until the end of wednesday to formerly fill the government. if not the president will offer another party the opportunity to
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build a coalition. in jerusalem we're joined now mike hanna mike back when benjamin netanyahu convincingly won the election, it seemed like a done deal that he would be able to form a government. what happened in the intervening weeks? where did he go wrong? >> it's a very good question. there was absolutely no indication that with less than two hours ago to his deed lynn to announce the formation of the government he still negotiating. he's still in negotiations with the usual home party. that's a short answer to your question. netanyahu started off by signing a deal with the ultra orthodox religious parties. that drove way lieberman, a person who he thought he would have his supports.
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>> he promised the ultra orthodox religious groups a reinstatement of privileges that had been taken away by preaches government paying state welfare benefits and doing away with military service for religious students. this drove away potential partners particularly avigdor lieberman. with the significance of that they have eight seats in parliament. at present netanyahu has 53. he needs eight to get 61 to get the majority of parliament and to be able to say yes he'll be able to form a government. >> he has two more hours to tell the president that he is going to be able to form a government, but he does not have to give the details for a little while longer is that right? >> that's completely correct. all he has to do is inform the
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president that's confident that he has the majority of 61 in the parliament. he then legally has another week to be able to sort out the exact details of that government in terms of who is going to gets what ministerial position. what we do understand is that a deal has been reached. what the sticking point of this particular point is what role the party will have within government. he has offered the party, it's demand or given in to its demand given that justice ministry, however we understand that the discussion in these last hours is exactly what powers that justice minister will have, netanyahu does not want a justice minister from what is essentially a settler group to have a say over the hiring and firing of judges within this country. if would have immense political ram my cases. that would appear to be the fine details of what position what ministers will have from which parties. >> we'll be following
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developments we'll check in with you when that deadline expires. thank you. still lots more to come here on al jazeera including on patrol, they chase human traffickers through the jungle. and final campaign in the u.k. ahead of an election that is billed too close to call. family in a home that they deserve... that's a problem for me. >> hard earned pride. hard earned respect. hard earned future. a real look at the american dream. "hard earned". sunday, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> part of our month long look at working in america.
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witnesses and rescue workers say that their vessel was shelled by houthi fighters. four afghan men have been sentenced to death for their roles of the murder of a woman who was beaten to death in broad dee day late. daylight. benjamin netanyahu will have hours to form his government. in the u.k. we're now just a day away from the u.k. election and the vote is on the knife edge. many are predicting a hung parliament which could mean days of horse trading. let's go to laurence lee. sir laurence, what are the candidates doing the last few hours of polling day? >> it's pretty much all over. we've had a sense at the end of this campaign how little appetite the traditional parties have trying to entertain some of
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the new parties which have supposedly enlivened this whole electoral cycle particularly the scottish nationalists. it's been clear for some time that scotland holds the key to this. they've had a meteoric campaign, and they'll be the third largest party here and will hold the balance of power. right at the end of this election campaign the conservative party with prime minister david cameron will suggest that it would pose such a threat to the stability of the u.k. it would be better to exclude them from parliament even if that meant a minority rather than a majority government here in westminster. >> north london, very wealthy and liberal.
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they're trying to hold on to the constituency. but in this new era of coalition politics many don't like the idea of their party doing deals with those who would chop down the united kingdom. >> who would you vote labor if they didn't have to get the support of the scottish nationalists. >> yes definitely. >> but you don't want them to deal with the nationalists. >> you've hit it on the head. >> this election is forcing the parties of apples and oranges and that makes thence potentially very messy. if the opinion polls arer right there is almost no mathematics that would allow the conservative party the former coalition, the ability to form the majority in parliament. but the labour party could with the scottish nationalists, and they after all want independent from the united kingdom. and this is leading the conservatives to question the moral authority or the legitimacy of that arrangement. the conservative newspapers are
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full of talk of constitutional crisis. the scottish enemy holding the leavers of power. >> have you had any sleep? >> opponents in the scottish national party are taking to the airwaves arguing that the public would prefer a government that would keep the u.k. together even if it can't get a majority. >> no so that's what gives cameron what he claims is a moral high ground to effectively repel orders. but he still has to have a healthy number of mps. >> in the corridors of power senior civil servants have been hards at work reminding politicians that rules are rules rules. >> the idea to exclude the snp scotland has voted for them. they voted for them. that's a fact of life that has to be taken into account. >> if this was all simple then the party with the biggest gang would gain victory.
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but the bookmakers say this is not simple at all. >> lawrence we're just talking about the israeli elections and they have coalition governments. a lot of european countries have coalition governments. why are the british so uneasy with that concept even though they've had one for years. why are they so uneasy with the concept of coalitions. >> there is a tradition of it isn't there and the way the system works it doesn't lend itself to coalition politics. the other thing the mainstream the coalitions are inherently unstable and this is about a system. about the trouble is those traditional parties have so much support and so much trust from the public that all these new parties have emerged yet the traditional parties are trying to fight this campaign in a way that suggests to the million should ignore those new parties and work around them. the labor leader who we see campaigning tonight suggested the other day he would be
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against doing a deal with the so theishso scottish national party, and you wonder given so much cynicism given here, given that they're fighting austerity taxing the rich has said to the public okay, we don't like the snp. we don't agree with them. we should go independent. but we will go in a coalition with them. we'll have them in the tent and we'll work with them on the things that we agree with and we'll fight them on things on scottish independence. it might have enlivened the campaign nor and reduced the cynicism that the public has. has not happened, and in the end, there could be millions of people who go to the voting booth tomorrow morning entirely unclear who they should be voting for. >> it will be an interesting 24
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hours. thank you. >> syria's president has described recent military losses as set backs. he said gains and losses were a natural part of war and called for society to boost soldiers' morale. reinforcements are being sent to areas taken by by al-qaeda-linked al nusra front. >> today we are waging a war not a battle. and a war is different than a battle. war is a number of many battles. when we're talking about a fierce warlike the one happening in syria across thousands of kilometers and across square kilometers inside syria we talk not only about dozens or hundreds but thousands of battles. >> the president of burundi has told african ministers if he's elected for had a third term in month, he won't be run for
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office again. there has been protest as the constitution only allows two terms. a number of people have been killed including police. nearly a hundred migrants have been rescued off the italian coast after 12 days at sea. they spent two days adrift without food or water and with the ship's hull flooding. 7,000 people were rescued as they tried to reach europe. ber bernadino lyon has been negotiating between the governments in libya. we asked what progress has been made so far. >> at the moment we're waiting for the parties to give us commands and remarks on the proposal we have made. we have already reactions as you know very well it has been criticized by tripoli and we have already said very clearly
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that there will be a new draft and we'll try to address their concerns. so they are invited to send us their remarks to include the text and in the case of tibruk we're having reaction from independents civil societies and other actors involved in the process. once we have all these remarks we'll try to produce a new draft, and we'll try to produce an agreement that at the end of the day there has to be an agreement acceptable to everybody. >> six more bodies have been found buryied in a thai jungle, but they're thought to be rohingya muslims and it's thought to be another mass grave. 60,000 people from the persecuted minority have left the neighboring myanmar in the last few months. some end up in camps in thailand run by human traffickers. we have reports from near thailand's border in malaysia. >> it is a stretch of land at
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the tail end of thailand as it meets malaysia. it's rugged, raw and beautiful. but these jungles hide something more sinister. camps run by human traffickers holding ethnic muslim rohingya who are looking for a better life in malaysia. last friday a mass grave containing 26 bodies. this man spent four and a half months in camps where he saw two dozen people die. he escaped and has been living in a nearby mosque for months. >> i saw people killed by beating. i watched them burying the bodies. i even performed islamic burials in the hills. >> the death is result of a scene played out in numerous camps to hundreds of people calling the families to pay more money to pay the traffickers. >> everybody has to pay. if you don't pay, if you can't pay, you're subject to beatings,
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you're subject to deprivation of food and water. >> on sunday thai authorities launched a new operation in eight areas. putting more than 100 police and soldiers in the jungles with one purpose. to find the camps. we traveled with some. so this patrol what they're doing this is an area they came across in the morning. and they believe that just several hours before that it was occupied by traffickers and some of those rohingya that they brought along with them. what they're doing is destroying the material here that way the traffickers can't come back here and use any of these supplies. they'll continue in this area of operation and it's very close to the border. just two kilometers from the border. they'll continue deep in the jungle and they'll continue to search for any more camps. >> the police announce that two local officials were arrested and some police have been reassigned. on wednesday they launched a command center for the anti-trafficking operations.
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>> we have a clear direction of the country's national action plan to counter human trafficking. the situation in thailand is considered a crisis. >> but it might an bit late for this round of the crisis. as they continue their jungle patrols some feel they'll only find more evidence of the traffickers, not the rohingya nor the traffickers themselves. with the borders so close it's very easy for them to slip across and out of reach. al jazeera along thailand's border with malaysia. >> reconstruction work is getting under way in nepal following the earthquake that is known to have killed 7,600 people. workers have started the major task of saving important buildings from further ruin. work is going on to restore essential services including power and water supplies. commercial space exploration companies spacex has taken another step towards putting an astronaut into orbit.
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it fired a space cap actual carrying a dummy high in the sky above cape canaveral in florida. itit was to prove that it could fire its passengers out of harms' way should there be any problems in launch. that's at our website www.aljazeera.com. hi, i am lisa flesher and you are in the stream. nonprofit hospitals are supposed to take care of people regardless of their ability to pay. why then are some suing patients for millions. and the is i.r.s. doing enough to stop it? could this be the beginning of the end for the cable television industry, a new internet t.v. services are capturing consumers.
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